In the Works: Dennis Lehane Writing American Remake of ‘A Prophet’

In the Works: Dennis Lehane Writing American Remake of 'A Prophet'

Bestselling crime novelist Dennis Lehane is on board to pen the American remake of 2010’s “A Prophet” for Sony.

The original, directed by Jacques Audiard and starring Tahar Rahim (“The Past”), centers on a young French-Arab man who must survive the brutalities of prison, and eventually rises in status behind bars as a Mafia kingpin. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes 2009, and was nominated for a Foreign-Language Oscar in 2010.

Lehane’s novels include “Mystic River,” “Gone Baby Gone” and “Shutter Island” — titles given big-screen treatments by Clint Eastwood, Ben Affleck and Martin Scorsese, respectively. Lehane has recently leaned more toward screenwriting, with “Travis McGee” and “Silk Road” both assignments from Fox. The upcoming Fox Searchlight crime film “Animal Rescue,” starring Tom Hardy, is also a Lehane script, based on one of the author’s short stories.